


1.05 Alternate Ending

by mrslaurelritter



Category: BrainDead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, alternate ending to 'back to work', brief mentions of Anthony, laureth, not really any spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-03
Packaged: 2018-07-29 02:18:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7666507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrslaurelritter/pseuds/mrslaurelritter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is an alternate ending to Braindead Episode 5 (Back To Work) originally written because I couldn't stand how they ended the episode and couldn't stand waiting another week until they resolved it. I'm also a hardcore Laureth shipper, and there was an upsetting lack of Gareth in the episode, so this is the result!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1.05 Alternate Ending

‘Laurel are you OK?’

Laurel almost dropped her phone in surprise. Gareth’s tone had gone from confused to concerned in a matter of seconds.

‘Yeah I’m fine, why do you ask?’ she queried, trying to keep her tone light and breezy, but she suspected she wasn’t being successful.

‘Well, firstly, you admitted I was right which is odd for two reasons. We’re not supposed to agree based on our political views, and also you really liked that guy for some reason and refused to believe he did anything wrong but now you’re agreeing with me over him. But secondly, you sound like you’re about to cry and you never show your emotions. So, tell me, what’s wrong?’

A tear rolled down Laurel’s face without her noticing while he was talking. She did, however, notice when she went to reply and instead burst into tears. She tried to choke out a response but just ended up crying harder.

On the other end of the line, Gareth stiffened at the sound of her tears.

‘Laurel, where are you right now?’

His question was met with the silence associated with the other person hanging up. He slowly dropped his hand away from his face in shock. Had he been too forward? He looked blankly at his phone background (which hadn’t been changed since he got it, he couldn’t think what to put there) with his brow furrowed in worry. After a minute his phone turned itself off, but as he went to put it back in his pocket, the screen lit up with a text from Laurel giving an address. He unlocked his phone faster than he ever had before and copied the address into the maps app. He got into his car and found himself outside what he assumed to be her door in less than ten minutes. He got out and knocked on the door. He heard a sharp intake of breath from the other side followed by what sounded like an attempt to stifle sobs.

‘It’s only me, it’s just Gareth. Are you in there Laurel?’

On the other side of the door, Laurel froze in shock. He actually came! She padded up to the door, then flung it open and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

Gareth stiffened in surprise. He certainly hadn’t been expecting this. When it became obvious that she wasn’t going to let go any time soon, he relaxed into the embrace and rested his chin on top of her head (her shampoo smelt really good, he noted) and wrapped his own arms around her.

Laurel eventually let go and led him in, shutting the door. Gareth noted the flowers in the bin and raised his eyebrows at them in question. Laurel looked at them with a disgusted look, then looked back at Gareth, thankfully softening her gaze.

‘They were from _him_ ’ she spat.

‘Laurel, what happened with him?’ Gareth moved towards her slowly, his tone soft and inviting.

Laurel took a deep breath and decided to tell him everything. And when she said everything, she meant everything. She led him to her sofa, and sat next to him and let all the Anthony stuff, minus the space bugs, come spilling out. Gareth looked more and more horrified as the seconds went on, and when she finally got to the end of her story, he stood up abruptly and practically marched towards the bin. He grabbed the flowers and stalked out the door. Laurel just stared at the doorway in shock. He returned five minutes later and went straight to the sink, and began washing his hands.

‘I put them in a dumpster a couple of blocks down’ he said as he shut the tap off. He came back over to the sofa and sat down again. ‘Now, was there anything else? You seemed like you weren’t quite done.’

Laurel bit her lip, her earlier resolve fading fast. Should she tell him? He didn’t want her to think she was crazy, after all. She shifted her gaze until they met his blue eyes and found her mouth moving without her permission.

‘Space bugs are eating peoples’ brains.’

Gareth held her gaze with an unreadable expression on his face. Laurel’s heart started beating fast, almost as fast as when she was attacked by that slimy F.B.I. bastard. He was going to think she was crazy and he was going to leave her alone and…

There was a knock at the door. Laurel jolted upwards and practically ran towards the door, leaving Gareth on her sofa with that same unreadable expression. She wrenched the door open to reveal Gustav carrying some netting and some industrial looking headphones. He stepped in and she launched herself at him like she had when Gareth came to her door.

‘Thank you for the brass knuckles’ she murmured into his ear. She pulled away to see a rather surprised expression on his face. She wasn’t exactly a tactile person, after all.

‘Uh. No problem, don’t mention it- oh I’m sorry I didn’t realise you had company’ Gustav noticed Gareth on Laurel’s sofa and stepped away from her. ‘I just came by to give you these, please use them at night! I can put the net over your bed if you want?’

Laurel glanced at Gareth who was observing the exchange with a mild, yet still unreadable expression on his face. She looked back at Gustav and shook her head. ‘It’s fine, I can do it myself’ she promised.

Gustav looked sceptical but nodded and turned to go. He stopped in the doorway and shot a quizzical look in Gareth’s direction. Laurel looked back and forth between the two. ‘I’m going to explain, provided he’s still willing to listen after what I just said.’

Gareth’s expression changed. He stood up and took a few steps towards her. ‘I believe you Laurel. It… well, in a crazy way, it makes sense. Besides, you believed it enough to tell your brother, and I doubt you deliberately set out to destroy his career.’

Laurel whipped around to face him. ‘You believe me?’ she asked in disbelief.

‘I’ll leave you to it Laurel!’ Gustav winked before turning around to leave. Laurel half-heartedly flipped off the door without turning away from Gareth who regarded her serenely with his blue eyes. She moved back over towards the sofa and sunk down onto it. Gareth sat down again and began speaking in earnest.

‘I started following all that stuff about C.H.I.s after you watched that news article and ran off halfway through it. Besides, I never really believed Johnathon had a stroke, so in a weird way, his head exploding made sense. And then all that stuff your brother said came out and when you said what you just did, I put two and two together. I’m not an idiot, I promise. I’m actually quite smart-‘

He was broken off by Laurel pressing her lips against his. Gareth melted into the kiss without hesitating. They picked up where they left off in the bar, and when they both resurfaced for air shortly after, no one pulled away very far. They stayed forehead to forehead, just gazing into each other’s eyes.

‘What was that for?’ He queried softly.

‘For not thinking I’m crazy.’

‘I don’t think you’re crazy, I think you’ve been through a lot and should probably go to bed.’

‘Are you trying to get into bed with me Gareth?’ Laurel giggled and sat back from him. His hands slid down her torso and rested on her hips.

‘I’m not going to take advantage of you Laurel, I’m not a monster. But, if you’d like, I can accompany you to bed. I understand you might not want to be alone right now, although I also understand if you don’t want me in your bed, even if it’s totally innocent.’

‘I would like it if you came with me. You’re right, I don’t want to be alone.’

Gareth looked at her softly, his surprise at her agreement hidden from all but his eyes. She padded softly towards her bed to get changed. Gareth walked out of the space, picking up the netting and headphones that Gustav had left, and waited just out of eye-shot to try and give her privacy. She rounded the corner a few minutes later and raised her eyebrows at what he was carrying. He just shrugged and gave her look which said ‘better safe than sorry’ and proffered it to her.

‘Hang on, I’ll get some earmuffs so we can both be protected.’

Gareth took the opportunity to take off his work clothes, leaving him in just his boxers. He stood in the middle of the room, somewhat embarrassed and decided to put the netting around the bed. He finished just as Laurel came back in, and turned around to face her. She froze as soon as she saw him, staring at his body that was definitely too nice to belong to a politician.

‘Is this a problem?’ Gareth gestured vaguely at his attire – or lack thereof - and furrowed his brows in concern, feeling vaguely self-conscious.

‘No, not at all, I just didn’t realise that you… well, that your good looks weren’t confined to… uh your face…’ Laurel sputtered out. Gareth brightened in an instant and he just gave her one of his infuriating smirks and beckoned her towards the bed. Before they got in, Laurel put on Gustav’s headphones and Gareth followed suit, putting on Laurel’s fluffy pink earmuffs. Laurel glanced at him, noted how ridiculous he looked and burst out laughing. Gareth’s cheeks started to colour until they were a similar shade to the earmuffs, which made Laurel laugh harder.

‘I’m sorry, you just look too cute in those earmuffs and that underwear!’ She managed to get out. Gareth sighed and gave her a little shove towards the bed, although he was secretly pleased that she seemed happier than when he first stepped into her apartment. He got in himself and was surprised when Laurel cuddled up to him. He slipped his arm under her so that he held her closely to him. In a moment of reckless courage, he pressed a light kiss on the top of her head, avoiding the band of the headphones.

‘Everything is going to be ok, I promise’ he murmured into her hair. She sighed contentedly in response. For the first time since this all began, she felt like everything was right in the world. She could face the bug thing, and the Anthony thing, and the politics thing in the morning. Hopefully with Gareth by her side.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this! It's the first fanfiction I've ever written, so feedback will be appreciated! I also have a braindead specific tumblr, mrslaurelritter.tumblr.com so feel free to come and say hi!


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